Comfort Addict

I recently had remnants of some modern striped wallpaper framed to hang in my living room. The room is filled with mostly traditional furnishings so I wanted to add some contemporary touches to keep the space fresh. The color scheme for the room is green, blue, white, and gold so this abstract blue stripe from Larsen was perfect. I have yet to pick the exact location where I want hang these new pieces but I am sure they will find a home on an empty wall soon enough!Framing or wallpaper is an inexpensive alternative to costly fine art. The key is to find a wallpaper you love and either have it mounted on canvas or framed simply so as not to compete with the paper itself. If you choose a scenic paper it is best to frame or mount an entire repeat. In the case of an all over pattern such as a stripe, damask, or geometric, you can frame as large or as small a piece as your wall space requires. L.A. based designer Suzanne Rheinstein framed two pieces of chinoiserie paper in her timeless living room.Domino Magazine featured many beautiful examples of framed wallpaper throughout its years of publication. This large panel of chinoiserie paper used in the dining room Laura Vinroot Poole still looks fresh as a backdrop to the modern dining room furnishings.Dining rooms are great spaces to use framed wallpaper panels. They are one of the most often wallpapered rooms in a house. If you cannot afford or do not want to commit to a certain print, framed panels are a great solution. Bunny Williams used colorful, framed scenic Chinese wallpaper to unify this dining room showcased in her book Point of View.Like Williams, Steven Gambrel used a pair of scenic panels as the focal point in this eclectic dining space. The wallpaper incorporates and makes sense of the varied colors used in this happy room. {images: 1 & 2 author's own, 3- via mrs. blandings, 4 & 5 domino magazine, 6- via bunny williams' point of view, 7- via stylecourt}

The Antiques and Garden Show of Nashville is just days away from opening and last minute preparations are being made as we type. All we can tell you is that this is going to be a beautiful show. Another guest we are quite excited to welcome is interior designer Alexa Hampton. Hampton joins the Antiques and Garden Show from New York on Saturday to present in the "Ask-an-Expert" series. Alexa is the daughter of the late design legend Mark Hampton. Today she serves as the president and featured designer of Mark Hampton, LLC, a firm her father founded in 1976. Alexa has put her own stamp on her father�s classic, gracious look, giving it a relaxed and modern quality that we love.Today we bring you an personal interview with this design legend in the making: Your father is Mark Hampton, the legendary interior designer. What was the most valuable lesson you learned from him?Answer: Every lesson I learned from my father is valuable, as I learned from him. It is hard to isolate just one. Perhaps the best thing I learned from working with him was the culture of hard word he perpetuated.The show�s co-chairs are both mothers, as are many of the show�s attendees. As a mother of three young children, how do you create rooms that are both beautiful and impermeable to spills, rips, tears, etc.?Answer: Nothing is entirely impervious to the trials and tribulations of family life. However, being a mother to three young children has encouraged me to be thoughtful about where I put my satins and taffetas, if I use them at all. A silk in my apartment would most likely be found on a curtain or a pillow or in my room which can be locked! The best thing that motherhood has brought to my workplace is a sense of humor.How many years have you been coming to the Antiques and Garden Show? What continually excites you and draws you back to the show?Answer: I have been coming to the Nashville Antiques and Gardens show since February of 2007, a mere 3 months after my twins were born. I fell in love with the Antiques Show and was so impressed by the people, the vendors, and the event that I can�t help but want to come back year after year.In addition to being a wonderful designer, you�ve also demonstrated talent as a painter. Who is your favorite artist? Do you ever find that his/her style seeps into your aesthetic? Answer: First of all, make no mistake I am not that good of a painter. But that doesn�t keep me from loving many accomplished painters. My top five favorite painters are: Velasquez, Titian, Manet, Hammershoi, Sargent.What�s your favorite room in a home � either to decorate or inhabit?Answer: I love decorating Living Rooms best. Not only are they often the most used room of a house, but they are usually the most ambitious in terms of scope and design.Images via NYtimes; Architectural Digest; Finest Rooms in America

{Georgian home by Gil Schafer}First of all, I want to say "thank you" to Things That Inspire for the kind mention on her blog. Without trying to sound cliche, her blog is truly inspiring and is one of my regular reads. Yesterday Things that Inspire published another thought provoking post that considers the definition of a McMansion. Once again it sparked a lively conversation that you don't want to miss.Secondly, I want to clarify a point from my last post. Just because something is considered a 2000's trend, it does not make it bad it just means that it may not popular in the design world 10 years from now. Many of the elements we have incorporated into our decor over the past decade are quite beautiful and that is precisely why we like them! If there were no "trends" we would all be living in museums today.That said, a home full of solely trendy decor is a vapid and soulless one. It is so important to mix in the old with the new and to incorporate things that are truly meaningful to you such as collections and family heirlooms. In the end, what makes a house a home is it's unique reflection of those who live there.All of these posts on trends got thinking about building and design elements that are truly timeless. As I mentioned in my last post, almost everything looks dated eventually but I came up with a short list of things that in my opinion seem to stand the test of time. As I began to gather images to illustrate this post I found it ironic that many of the rooms had more than one "timeless" element to them.Traditional Architecture{Gil Schafer home}Traditional architecture is something that will never go out of style. While it's forms may vary from one region of the country to another, a historically proportioned house is timeless. Many argue that traditional floor plans are unfriendly to today's mode of living and while this may be partially true there are many classically trained architects out there who are building new and restoring old homes to meet the needs of the modern family while at the same time staying true to the historic form.{photo from University of Virginia Rotunda designed by Thomas Jefferson}White Upholstered Pieces{Mark Hampton room via Architectural Digest}White and off white upholstered chairs and sofas are the "little black dress" of interior design. They are timeless, versatile and go with just about anything. You can change and update their look easily with throw pillows and surrounding accessories. If you look back through shelter magazines from past decades you will see many different styles and varieties of upholstered pieces that have come and gone. It is the classically lined white sofa and chair that have stood the test of time. {Gerrie Bremermann via Southern Accents}As someone with young children knows, white furniture is not practical. Slipcovers and indoor outdoor/fabrics help make it possible for those with pets and families to incorporate this design element into their homes. I am planning to use an off-white linen Sunbrella indoor/outdoor fabric to upholster my living room sofas. {Peter Dunham living room}Antiques{image from Gerrie Bremermann's New Orleans shop via All the Best blog}It almost goes without saying, but antiques will last a lifetime and look beautiful through every passing trend. Gerrie Bremermann, a New Orleans designer encourages young clients to save up and invest in one antique at a time so that in 20 years they have a lovely collection of valuable antiques. Antiques can, and should, be paired with less expensive "of the moment" accessories to keep them looking interesting and fresh.{Jacques Grange Paris Apartment via Trouvias}{Albert Hadley's Connecticut Home via Style Court}Blue and White Chinese Porcelain{Aerin Lauder's Hampton's home via Elle Decor}Actually a subset of antiques, blue and white porcelain just never seems to go out of favor. Blue and white wares give a space a fresh that look is always en vogue.{James and Whitney Fairchild home via House and Garden 2004}{Oscar de la Renta's dining room table 1971 via style court}Creamy White Walls{Givenchy's home via The Givenchy Style}Paint color trends come and go over the years. Yesterday's warm beiges have given way to today's cooler grays. Blues and greens are "in" and reds are not as popular at the moment. Color palettes change frequently and fortunately paint is the cheapest and easiest way to update a room. {White House from Jackie Kennedy Era via Architectural Digest}Creamy white walls however never seem to be out of style. If you notice, many of the rooms featured above have light colored walls. Joni at Cote de Texas is not a big fan of white walls. She likens them to a face without makeup. If a room is architecturally less than superb and the room lacks sufficient color and flair in it's accessories, a creamy white wall will look bare and boring. Fill a cream colored room with beautiful antiques and fabulous fabrics and it looks elegant and inviting. {Emma Jane Pilkington's dining room via Farrow and Ball's The Art of Color}I would love for you to weigh in on the subject. In your opinion, what design elements stand the test of time?

The heat has been keeping me indoors more than I would like but it has given me the time and excuse to do a little online "window shopping." It may be hot outside but Christmas will be here before we know it and now is the time of year to purchase a throw blanket, as they are deeply discounted in the warmer months. I love the ones (pictured above) from William Sonoma Home. Cavallini makes the most beautiful, handcrafted Italian picture frames. For years I could not find a source to purchase them online but I finally found them here. You can chose from a variety of styles and colors but my personal favorite are the gold and white.This chest is the perfect "anywhere" chest . I love it's simple lines and elegant finish. It is on sale here.Louis XVI furniture is always beautiful, and Wisteria does a great job of re-interpreting the style with this demilune console. Do you have a small entryway or foyer? This might be the perfect piece!I love the new striped fabrics being offered at Ballard Designs. How handsome (and affordable!) is this "Colefax Chair?"And I am especially this Cane Table Lamp from Ballard Designs. A pair of these would make great bedside table lamps! I hope you are finding a cheaper way to pass the time indoors!!

Today I went to look find something on Mary McDonald's website and was pleasantly surprised to find that her entire site has been re-vamped and upgraded. Her new site is easy to navigate and filled with new photographs of her beautiful interiors. McDonald, a Domino Magazine darling, has long been one of my favorite designers. Her style is glamorous and sophisticated yet classic and understated. Be sure to check out her new site here.

Our new home has a great amount of built in bookshelves in the living room and family room. Fortunately, I love good books and we have a large collection of hardback classics with which we can begin to fill the multitude of shelves. Even so, I still have many shelves that lay bare. I am constantly on the hunt for beautiful books that inspire and are visually appealing. Today, Penguin Books is releasing a new range of hardback classic books. These pretty cloth-bound books were designed by Coralie Bickford-Smith. The collection includes titles such as Great Expectations, Sense and Sensibility, and one of my all time favorites, Oscar Wilde's The Picture of Dorian Gray. What could be more lovely than well written words wrapped in beautiful design?{image: via style.com}